Monday , March 18 2024
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment keeps over 50 years of history going strong (the comics still run in U.S. newspapers) with this great collection of Peanuts by Charles Schulz

DVD Review: ‘Peanuts by Schulz: Snoopy Tales’

Based on the classic, print comic strip created by Charles Schulz, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment DVD collection Peanuts by Schulz: Snoopy Tales celebrates the first original Peanuts cartoon series in over 10 years. This widescreen two-disc set presents 227 minutes in 32 short episodes that originally premiered in May 2016 on Boomerang (no longer being aired; some episodes still available on the Cartoon Network app).

This new series was produced by French animation studio Normaal in association with Peanuts Worldwide LLC. They reportedly produced hundreds of short and quick episodes so look for more DVD releases including the upcoming Peanuts by Schulz: Go Team Go! set on April 25.

It’s a great set still rooted in Charles Schulz’s creativity and vision thought the lack of extras and bonus features was a surprise since this reviewer has a high interest in how creative and technical talents keep this popular franchise going. For example, the great Bill Melendez who provided the voice of Snoopy the lovable black-and-white beagle Snoopy and the little yellow bird Woodstock passed away in 2008. Now creators of the fantastic 2015 The Peanuts Movie (hopefully a sequel is coming) used Melendez’s archived recordings for Snoopy and Woodstock, but the Peanuts by Schulz: Snoopy Tales seems to have just reduced their vocal roles and substituted more expressions, silent actions and noises. “A Day With Snoopy”, “Nice Doggy”, and Train Your Dog” are prime examples where Snoopy’s presence just isn’t enough to sustain the episodes. This franchise’s classic holiday appeal comes through well in “Let It Snow”, “Christmas Is Coming” and “Winter Wonderland.”

The animation style follows the franchise well and includes some computerized alterations, color additions and other enhancements, which modernizes Peanuts for newer audiences. The animations often resemble a motion comic among a standard panel format.

The visuals are great with watercolor blends and textures resembling different papers. Hand-drawn designs work well with the classic dialogue and scenarios based on the classic comic series by Charles Schulz. Look at the edges to appreciate the dot designs among the bright colors that often give these works a similar feel to Andy Warhol’s artworks.

The character voices worked well and feature lead Aiden Lewandowski (upcoming Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie) who voices Charlie Brown with Jude Perry voicing Linus and Bella Stine voicing Lucy. Taylor Autumn Bertman voices Charlie Brown’s sister Sally and Cassidy May Benullo voices Frieda the girl with the naturally curly red hair. Lily Zager voices Peppermint Patty and Daniel Thornton voices Schroeder who does not appear very much.

The Dolby Audio English: 5.1 Surround audio track is very clean as the main dialogue and action goes through the main channel among the multichannel soundtrack. There are English SDH and French Subtitle options.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment keeps over 50 years of history going strong (the comics still run in U.S. newspapers) with this great collection. Enough original appeal to win new fans and satisfies the core fan base with great use of the nostalgic characters, memorable dialogue and classic elements that builds on this strong franchise.

Look for the next Peanuts by Schulz DVD set on April 25, which will be titled Go Team Go! and will include 19 short episodes. Remember you can still view episodes on the Cartoon Network app. Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed here. The opinions I share are my own.

See the full episode list for each disc below:

Disc 1
1. Come on Snoopy!
2. A Day with Snoopy
3. My Blanket
4. Crazy Mutt
5. Good Dog
6. Sound & Sensibility
7. Train Your Dog
8. Going My Way
9. The Call of the Wild
10. A Pretty Picture
11. Beware of the Dog
12. Winter Wonderland
13. A Hard Winter
14. Word of Mouth
15. Too Cold
16. Woodstock

Disc 2
17. Christmas is Coming
18. Telling Stories
19. Man’s Best Friend
20. Off Key
21. Not My Day
22. A Little Love
23. Good for Nothing
24. Let It Snow
25. Security
26. Nice Doggy
27. Company
28. Reach for the Stars
29. Fly
30. Feeling Insecure
31. Always Right
32. Even the Score

About Tall Writer

Love writing, media, and pop culture with a passion and using them in meaningful ways.

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